US to upgrade Aegis system to counter China’s DF-26 missiles
Want China Times
Originally published at
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150913000169&cid=1101Posted on September 13, 2015 by editor
The USS Halsey, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, during a drill in the Western Pacific. (Photo courtesy of US Navy)
The United States is upgrading its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to counter China’s new DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile with their ability to sink medium-sized warships, Harry J Kazianis, the executive editor of National Interest magazine, writes in a piece published on Sept. 9.
At a press conference on Sept. 4, Lockheed Martin announced a new contract worth US$428 million to modernize the US Navy Aegis Combat System’s hardware and software over the next 10 years. Just a day prior to the announcement, China used the military parade in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II to display its DF-26 missiles to the public for the first time.
The crowds watching the parade were informed that the DF-26 can be used to attack medium-sized warships like cruisers and destroyers as well as large military facilities in the central Pacific. The words suggested that the missiles could be used against Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in a future conflict between China and the US over the disputed East China or South China seas.
Lockheed Martin said its Ship Integration & Test program is aimed to integrate the Aegis Combat System on the US Navy’s future Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. It also aims to modernize surface combat vessels including cruisers and destroyers to operate the latest iteration of the Aegis configuration known as Baseline 9, developed to simultaneously defend warships against airborne threats including aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Kazianiss aid the time has arrived for US naval assets to prepare for anti-ship threats. With an attacking range up to 2,500 miles, the DF-26 missile is capable of complicating America’s ability to project power and influence into the Western Pacific.
http://missilethreat.com/us-to-upgrade-aegis-system-to-counter-chinas-df-26-missiles/
